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Time is every small business owner's most precious commodity. But in order to get adequately compensated for your time, you need to track how you spend it (and how your employees spend it.)
Here are five useful time tracking apps for a variety of small business needs.
1. Toggl
Toggl offers the ultimate in simplicity, letting you track time with literally two clicks. Create an account, and connect the Toggl timer to more than 100 web apps. Just click to start the timer when you begin a task, and click again to stop it when you end or take a break. Advanced features in the paid version send employees automated reminders when they haven't tracked time.
Toggl also creates visual reports that show you how you and your employees are actually using your time and which projects are the most profitable. Toggl integrates with popular project management apps such as Asana, Basecamp, and GitHub. It works with one-person businesses or teams. It's a good solution if you want simplicity and are primarily interested in time and project management. Paid versions start at $9/user/month.
2. Timesheets.com
Timesheets.com works for both hourly employees and salaried workers who need to track billable hours or time spent on projects. It can also track employee time, mileage, and expenses on the road via its mobile app.
Timesheets.com works with popular payroll companies including QuickBooks, SurePayroll, and ADP; you can also export the data into a wide variety of formats. There are even HR tools including standardized documents and the ability to store documents privately so only relevant managers can see them. This is a good solution if you have both hourly and salaried workers. Plans start at $99/year.
3. TSheets
TSheets is a time tracking and scheduling solution that focuses on mobility (although there's also a desktop app). Employees can clock in on their smartphones via text, email, voice call, or even Twitter. Crew features let you send entire crew alerts at once or clock them all in and out at the same time. The drag-and-drop schedule creator makes it easy to schedule employees for shifts, such as retail or restaurant work, or particular jobs, such as landscaping or construction.
Employees can use the app to request time off or ask to trade shifts; managers can make or approve schedule changes on the fly and quickly alert employees. TSheets is well suited for businesses with hourly workers, work crews, or mobile employees, such as field services or construction. It integrates with most popular accounting and payroll software. Paid plans start at $4/user/month.
4. Harvest
Planning for the future is a strong point of Harvest. This time tracking app creates visual reports that show you how much time your team is spending on each project. Employees can use the app's timers to track their time or input it manually. With the mobile app, it's easy to track time and billable hours anywhere.
You can also track expenses by simply snapping pictures of receipts, and automatically pull data from Harvest into invoices. A sister app, Forecast, lets you use data from Harvest to accurately schedule your employees' time into the future. This is a useful app if your business works on a variety of projects for clients at one time or if you have employees who travel for business. Paid plans start at $12/person/month.
5. Hubstaff
The Hubstaff time tracking app runs on computers or mobile apps and builds in plenty of employee monitoring tools. The app tracks mouse movements and clicks, takes random screenshots to show you what employees are actually working on, monitors employee internet use so you can see what websites they're visiting, and even tracks which apps employees use the most. The mobile app uses GPS to track employees' time and location on the road; employees can also track time on their mobile devices.
The Hubstaff package also includes a scheduling tool and invoicing app. This is a good solution if you want to monitor employees, remote or otherwise, closely, and keep tabs on productivity. Paid plans start at $5/user/month.
Need help choosing the right time tracking and scheduling software for your business—or any other aspect of managing your employees and your finances? The experts at SCORE can help.
(Disclosure: TSheets is a client of my company.)
Copyright © 2023 SCORE Association, SCORE.org
Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.


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Arguably the most anticipated film of the summer season (it's tied with Iron Man 3 , Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim), Star Trek Into Darkness marks Chris Pine's second time stepping into the shoes of the iconic James T. Kirk, the headstrong captain of the USS Enterprise. Whereas J.J. Abrams' 2009 series reboot saw us riding along with a brash, young Kirk, Star Trek Into Darkness almost immediately and relentlessly humbles the overconfident captain, teeing him up only to knock him down again. Pine's towering charisma is one of the driving forces behind the rebooted franchise's well-deserved success, and Into Darkness is no exception.
To give us further insight into the inner workings of Captain Kirk, I caught up with Chris Pine to talk about the evolving relationship with Spock, Kirk's hubris, and the state of spoiler-obssessed cinema. So, go ahead and set your phasers to "flippin' sweet" and beam this interview up directly to your brain. Want even more Star Trek Into Darkness goodness? Read our interviewwith Mr. Sulu himself, John Cho, too!
Nerdist: First of all, I rather enjoyed the movie. It's a great follow-up to the 2009 film.
Chris Pine:Â Oh, thank you!
N: Despite its intergalactic scope, Star Trek Into Darkness deals with some very earthbound issues that we're seeing in our own society today, namely that of homegrown terrorism. John Harrison seems like the realization of many of our fears. Can you speak a little to the film's tone and the themes it addresses?
CP: Yeah, I think it does speak to many things that have unfortunately become a constant, namely terrorism and the use of not only physical violence, but also the power of manipulation by using fear. Above and beyond that, the questions it asks all of us is what do we do with a sense of bloodlust, a need to commit retaliatory violence, to commit revenge, to be owned by the eye for an eye way of thinking, and where does that really get us? John Harrison is certainly on the side of that, and he represents that great force that exists in all of us in times after an event like 9/11 or any form of terrorism. It has more to do with the cycle of revenge than anything else.
N: Very well said. In the film, this is a very different Kirk than we've seen in the past; he has to undergo a bit of a trial by fire, as it were. How has he grown and changed since the 2009 film?
CP:Â Yeah, in the 2009 film, Kirk begins and ends as this kind of cocksure, self-assured, confident young man and he believes in his own strengths probably more than he should. In the second, within minutes, he's brought to his knees and brought to zero, faced with all this self-doubt and anxiety over whether he's a good leader and whether he's really meant for the captain's chair. He has questions about his own self-worth, which I found to be an interesting challenge. For someone who's usually so self-assured, having that vulnerability and insecurity, to have a weak hero, I thought it was really, really interesting.
N: I definitely agree. When you're going into this, you expect these larger-than-life heroes, so seeing them humanized and cut down a peg gives the audience a moment of pause.
CP:Â I think so. He's not a caped crusader. He's not Batman, he's not Green Lantern, he's not Superman – he's just a man going through a major existential crisis about his identity and that, if nothing else, is pretty human.
N: Another crucial dynamic in the film is the relationship between Kirk and Spock. It is instrumental in Kirk's personal growth over the course of the film. While I hesitate to use the term "bromance," you and Zachary Quinto make a great on-screen pair. How does the relationship between Kirk and Spock grow in Into Darkness?
CP:Â Yeah, the struggles are continuing and the struggle is defined by different perspectives on how to go about things. For Kirk, he leads with his gut, his heart; he's kind of a bull in a china shop. As for Spock, he's a cold analyst who always follows the rules, and those qualities that drive them apart in the beginning are the ones that they realize they need to subsume from the other one to become fully realized people. They can't go about business in this kind of black and white way, and that, I think, is what resonates with people.
N: One of the big things surrounding the film is the secrecy surrounding Benedict Cumberbatch/John Harrison's true identity, and it seems to be both a nod to series lore and a subversion of expectations. Was there any difficulty in keeping the secret?
CP: I don't think there was any difficulty in keeping the secret. I think we were all so excited that J.J. was so excited about protecting the magic of this film. One of the many downsides of the Internet and new media is that everyone seems to know everything about everything and the need for information is so acute that by the time a film comes out, not only have people read the script, but there are photos from the set and there's already behind-the-scenes footage. J.J. kind of has this analog way of thinking about the movie business, which is "let's wait and save the surprise for the movie viewers." What's sacred to J.J. is that dark fear and the imagination of people going in, and he doesn't want to spoil that with people making early pronouncements.
N: I think that's a smart policy. Too many people want to spoil things for themselves before setting foot in the theater. One last question: what would be inside your ideal burrito?
CP:Â [laughs] Breakfast burrito, man. A breakfast burrito with all the fixins. Why in God's name is that a question?
N: The end of our flagship podcast is "Enjoy your burrito," and there's a bigger, deeper meaning behind that, but I prefer to get down to the nitty gritty of what's inside people's
CP: [laughs] A couple of fried eggs sunny-side up. Wow.
Star Trek Into Darkness is in theaters nationwide. Benedict Cumberbatch is secretly young Jean-Luc Picard. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. Have you seen the film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

subset: commoncrawl


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Klondike Gold Rush: The Perilous Journey North
Stampeders near Sheep Camp on the Chilkoot trail. 1897.
~ Detail from LaRoche 10042.
Cries of "Gold! Gold! Gold!" sent over 100,000 optimistic "stampeders" rushing to Dawson City and the Klondike gold fields in 1897 and 1898. They believed riches lay waiting for those who could reach this remote Canadian region.
This exhibit highlights their journey north. For most, this journey was the most challenging and time-consuming aspect of the gold rush. Stampeders were physically unprepared and poorly equipped for the severe northern climate and terrain. Some died and many abandoned the journey. About 40,000 people reached the Klondike, only four of every ten who tried.
The first major Klondike gold discovery occurred on August 16, 1896. Local miners soon staked claims and established the town of Dawson. Official word of the strike did not reach the outside for nearly a year because the Yukon River froze in late September and prevented communication.
Continue to next section, "The Rush Begins"
Copyright and Credits:
This web exhibition was prepared by U.W. Museology student Rebecca Hackman. It is based on an exhibition prepared by Ms. Hackman and the University of Washington Libraries' Special Collections and Preservation Division shown in the Special Collections lobby in the Basement, South Wing of the Allen Library from March 26, 1997 to September 1997.
This exhibition is copyrighted by the University of Washington Libraries. The exhibition may be used online or parts of it downloaded for personal use or the URL for the exhibition included in another electronic document. All images in this web exhibition are from the Special Collections Division. For information on reproductions of the images and use guidelines contact Special Collections.


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How to use keyword research to attract the most qualified visitors.
Improve your organic search engine rankings and attract the most qualified visitors by using keywords in your content.
What are Keywords in SEO?
Keywords are the words and phrases that describe the content on your web pages. They are also the words and phrases that people type into search engines to find relevant content.
When these two worlds collide and there is a match between the keywords on your web page and the keywords people type into a search engine, your page has a greater chance of being found.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of finding the words and phrases that people type into search engines for a topic relevant to your website, judging which keywords you are most likely to rank for, and then using them to construct your content.
How to do Keyword Research
Keyword research starts with brainstorming a list of search phrases around a particular topic that you think searchers will type into a search engine. This is called your keyword seed list and you'll use it to find even more related keywords.
Creating a Seed List
Let's say you're a wedding photographer and you've decided to create a page on your website that offers advice to soon-to-be-wed couples about honeymoon destinations. Makes sense, right? People planning their honeymoon are likely to be also looking for a wedding photographer so you're providing some supplemental content that will help attract the right kind of visitor and be super useful to them. While they are on your site, they browse your portfolio and make an enquiry about your services.
Your keyword seed list might look something like this:
- Honeymoons
- Honeymoon Destinations
- Honeymoon Holidays
- Honeymoon Ideas
- Perfect Honeymoon
- And so on.
The keyword phrases on your seed list should be short. Honeymoon Destinations is a perfect seed keyword. Affordable Honeymoon Destinations in Italy is what's known as a long-tail keyword and is not suitable for your seed list. More on long-tail keywords later.
Finding Related Keywords
Now that you've nailed your seed list, it's time to find related keywords and phrases and expand your list. A spreadsheet will be useful for managing these next few steps.
There are a number of handy tools for finding related keywords. The most obvious one is Google itself. Type one of your seed keywords into the Google.com search box and see what suggestions appear in the autocomplete box as you're typing. Create a 'keywords' column in your spreadsheet and copy these in.
At the bottom of the Google search results page, there are more related search suggestions. Copy these into the keywords column in your spreadsheet, removing any duplicates.
Then go through the same process for each of your seed keywords.
Now that you have a nice long list of keyword phrases, it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff and zone in on the keywords you are most likely to rank for. This is done by finding the search volume and keyword competition/difficulty for each of the keywords in your spreadsheet.
Search Volume
Search volume is the number of searches for a particular keyword per month. Higher is better but often more competitive.
Keyword Competition
Keyword competition (also known as difficulty) is a rating that shows how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword due to the number of websites competing for that keyword.
For example Honeymoon Destinations would be an extremely competitive keyword so instead of trying to compete with some 64 million web page results, a better strategy would be to try to rank for a long-tail keyword phrase like Affordable Honeymoon Destinations in Italy.
Long-tail keywords are more specific so are likely to be used when a searcher is deeper into the sales funnel and close to the point making a purchasing decision. Long-tail keywords are also less competitive so easier to rank for and while they bring you less traffic, the traffic they bring is more qualified and more likely to convert.
Keyword Research Tools
So how do you find the search volume and competition ratings for your keyword phrases? Here are some popular SEO tools that do that and much more.
Choosing the Right Keywords
It's spreadsheet time again and we're going to need three more columns. In case you hadn't guessed it, one column called 'Volume' and another called 'Difficulty'. The last column is for 'Relevance' which is where you will judge each keyword phrase for how relevant they are to the web page you're optimizing.
Using one of the keyword research tools mentioned above, copy the values for volume and difficulty of each of your keywords into your spreadsheet and then rank the relevance of each keyword phrase from 1 - 5 in the Relevance column.
The best keywords to use on your website have the following combination of qualities:
- High Volume
- Low Competition / Difficulty
- High Relevance
Adding Keywords to Your Page
Keywords should be used in the following page elements:
Page Title, URL and Meta Description
These three key elements not only appear on your website, they are also the 3 main components of a search result entry.
The page title appears in the browser tab of your page but also acts as the first line of the search result in search engines.
A human-readable URL that includes keywords separated by hyphens will be useful for both visitors and search engines.
Think of the meta description for your page as the search result sales copy. If the searcher is scanning search results and your meta description is compelling, there's a higher likelihood they will click. Increasing your CTR (click through rate) is a surefire way to increase your ranking.
Headings & Subheadings
Headings and subheadings help visitors scan your page. Including keywords here also helps search engines see the relevance of your content.
Inbound, outbound and internal links can all benefit from being optimized for search engines. Make sure to use variations of your keyword phrases for link anchor text.
Page Content
Page content is a significant ranking factor so use keywords and variations of keywords in paragraphs, lists, blockquotes. Be careful to use sparingly though since overuse of keywords or 'keyword stuffing' can trigger a penalty.
Use keywords that describe an image in the filename, alt text and title.
As with all things SEO, you want to find a sensible balance of usefulness for human visitors and search engine crawlers alike.
Monitoring Your Progress
Since 2011 Google has been steadily expanding its policy of withholding keyword data for organic search. This means that website owners and professionals have limited access to the keywords used to find their sites. Today 'keywords unavailable' is a common sight in analytics software. So what can you do to monitor the results of your efforts?
Sync Your Google Keywords with Statcounter
By connecting your Google Search Console and Statcounter accounts, you can sync your Google keyword data with Statcounter and unlock the search terms and phrases visitors are using to find your website, right within the Statcounter interface. Here's how to sync your google keyword data
Get Keywords in Your Inbox
Once you have synced your Google keyword data with Statcounter, you can configure your email reports to include a keywords report. Here's how to configure your email reports.
Track Your Google Page Rank
It's important to understand that a search engine ranking for a given keyword will not appear the same for everyone and also can change frequently. Some of the factors that influence where a result will appear in the search results page include:
- Location (IP address)
- Social media data
- Search & browsing history
- Device type
- Other Google products you use (gmail, docs etc)
For that reason, checking your ranking by doing Google searches for your keywords is insufficient, not to mention incredibly time consuming. The keyword research tools we mentioned earlier in this article also offer the ability to track your page rank and automate a lot of the work for you, making it a breeze to track your progress.
About the Author
2 Comments
- Posted on Aug 18 2021 at 17:49 by OysterHello, Is it possible to see the keywords used with each visit if I synch my account with Google like it was years ago? Thank you! George
- Posted on Sep 20 2021 at 08:53 by jonathanmortonHi. Unfortunately Google continues to encrypt search keywords so the keywords for each individual organic search from Google are not available. However keywords are available in Google Search Console on an aggregate level and syncing your account will make those available in Statcounter. Also, if you use Google Ads, you can see the keywords used for paid searches and have them displayed in Statcounter. https://statcounter.com/support/view-google-ads-keywords-in-statcounter/


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Our editors will review what you've submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Bosporus, strait (boğaz, "throat") uniting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara and separating parts of Asian Turkey (Anatolia) from European Turkey.
The Bosporus is 19 miles (30 km) long and has a maximum width of 2.3 miles (3.7 km) at the northern entrance and a minimum width of 2,450 feet (750 metres) between the Ottoman fortifications of Rumelihisarı and Anadoluhisarı. Its depth varies from 120 to 408 feet (36.5 to 124 metres) in midstream. In its centre a rapid current flows from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, but a countercurrent below the surface carries water of greater salinity from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. The Bosporus is heavily fished, since the channel is a seasonal migration route for fish to and from the Black Sea. Both shores are well wooded and are dotted with villages, resorts, and fine residences and villas.
Bosporus (from Greek boos poros) literally means "ox ford" and is traditionally connected with the legendary figure of Io, who in the form of a heifer crossed the Thracian Bosporus in her wanderings. Because of the strait's strategic importance for the defense of Constantinople (Istanbul), straddling the southern end of the strait, the Byzantine emperors and later the Ottoman sultans constructed fortifications along its shores, especially on the European side. Two noteworthy examples are the castles of Anadoluhisarı, which was constructed on the Asian shore by Bayezid I in 1390–91, and Rumelihisarı, built directly across the strait by Mehmed II in 1452. With the growing influence of the European powers in the 19th century, rules were codified (in treaties of 1841 and 1871) governing the transit of commercial and naval vessels through the strait. An international commission assumed control of the strait after the Ottoman defeat in World War I. Turkey resumed control in 1936 with the ratification of the Montreux Convention.
Three bridges have been built across the strait. The first, the Boğaziçi (Bosporus I) Bridge, was completed in 1973 and has a main span of 3,524 feet (1,074 metres). The second bridge, the Fatih Sultan Mehmed (Bosporus II), was completed in 1988 and has a main span of 3,576 feet (1,090 metres). The third, the Yavuz Sultan Selim (Bosporus III) Bridge, was completed in 2016 and has a main span of 4,620 feet (1,408 metres). A rail tunnel under the Bosporus opened in 2013, and a road tunnel opened in 2016.


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One of my fonder PlayStation 1 memories was of raiding tombs on a demo disc with the dual-wielding, ponytail-clad, buxom Lara Croft and her '90s edge reminiscent of an Alanis Morissette song. I ran about with my ostensible Indiana Jones in short shorts reveling in all the polygons and then suddenly I was being attacked by dinosaurs as if someone let Indiana Jones wander into Jurassic Park. It was a simpler time.
The series appeared to have been reaching its apex of mainstream proliferation — Angelina Jolie would twice pull back her hair into a ponytail of archaeology a decade ago. However, games were on their last legs following some less-than-well-received installments, until a PS2-era revival by Crystal Dynamics. Still, by that point, Lara seemed to remain on the fringe, almost as removed from the canon as the other quasi-PS1 mascots, also now under new management. Still, Crystal Dynamics has toiled diligently, making well-received Tomb Raider games even when Lara's position as gaming's Indy had seemingly been usurped by one Nathan Drake. Never one to lie down and die — well, except that one time she did — Lara and Crystal Dynamics aren't leaving this throne unchallenged.
And here we are, witnessing a waning generation reboot of one of gaming's most iconic women. A gritty, realistic one at that, eschewing the no-strand-out-of-place ponytail, large bust, and otherwise cartoonish features for, as Allistair Pinsof so eloquently put it, "American Apparel breasts" and a photorealistic flair. It's quite the shake up, but evidently one the seminal franchise needs to elevate it back into the public consciousness. One thing's for sure: I'm paying close attention.
Tomb Raider (Xbox 360 [previewed], PlayStation 3, PC)
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
Release: March 5, 2013
Tomb Raider opens up with a doozy of a storm leaving Lara washed up on a beach, but before she can catch her breath, a swift thump to the back of the head leads the screen to face to black and Lara becomes tied up in some sort of cocooned restraint. The transition from well-shot cinematics to fully manipulative gameplay is impressively seamless. Some shimmying about results in Lara careening toward the floor and impaling herself on a bit of upturned bone, the ill effects of which seem to be lost on Lara not too long after, but for now she holds her punctured side and winces with each step.
The opening, which you're funneled through, doubles as a tutorial and sets the stage for what's to come. Fire plays a big part in the game, particularly in puzzle solving. Obtaining a torch is necessary and it also needs to be externally lit or can be extinguished during certain portions of a level. Early on you're also given access to Lara's equivalent to Arkham Asylum's detective mode, which tears the environment of its colors and highlights objects of import in amber. Seeking a way out of the caves ends up being a mix of light, introductory puzzle solving, platforming, and quick-time events. Though the latter causes concern for some, I was generally happy with the QTE implementation, particularly how organic they tended to feel. Part of this might tie back to the strangely cinematic camera which feels zoomed in quite close to Lara relative to other third-person action games. It gives everything a more personal feel yet never obscured my field of view.
The next thing to strike me was the sound. Mind you, I did have the benefit of playing with a wonderful surround sound setup, but it was impressive none the less. To begin, you can check out this cool video documenting composer Jason Graves' methodology in writing wholly new material, as well as take a look at the neat instrument he had built specifically to make the soundtrack, which I dig so far. On top of that, however, I was particularly affected by the tertiary sound design. Aftershocks in the cave post-explosion left me with a palpable sense of dread while bumping into cans and other things let out deep, resonant metallic twangs. The ambient sound helps sell the world.
After finally freeing myself from the unsettling, creepy cave, I was momentarily awestruck by the sun-blazed, beautiful, and tumultuous landscape stretched out before me. Lara's ponytail may hang a bit awkwardly at times, but the environments are gorgeous and there's a noticeable amount of nuance in characters' facial animations, adding another layer to what are some strong voice acting performances.
Things get a bit more familiar after this. In cinematics, Lara remains scared, battered, and previously impaled (I don't remember her pulling the bone out but she certainly couldn't have left it in), but she builds a fire and presses onward, scavenging while trying to reconnoiter with her shipmates. Here you get to play with the in-vogue bow, shooting helpless deer and rending their delicious deer meat for experience. While everything I played was rather consistent in overarching linearity, I was a little surprised that the level designed opened up enough that I didn't feel claustrophobic and that I felt it worth my time to check out certain nooks and crannies in order to leave no stone unturned.
The platforming isn't as expansive or tightly segmented as in some current games; rather, it feels purely used to achieve a goal rather than to feel rewarding in and of itself. That being said, there are some cool idiosyncrasies. Double tapping A on flat walls lets you scramble up them, sometimes after a jump you'll have to tap X to get a proper grip, and later in early portion of the game the pickaxe makes for a rewarding sensation when manually plunged into stone you've leapt perilously toward. Even the dodge mechanic eschews a traditional forward roll in favor of an on-all-fours scurry echoing the fighting pose of a cornered, embattled animal. I was also able to unlock the ability to throw dirt into opponents' faces while in combat, though I never got a chance to use it.
Outside of getting from point A to point B in the service of progressing the plot, there are swaths of various collectibles to hoard, as well as hidden tombs for you to raid, which is where a fair bit of the puzzle solving I had to do came into play. Areas are also scattered with bits of salvage, which can then be used to upgrade your weapons at base camps. It's a slightly restrictive feature, but I like limiting upgrades to base camp — it's sensible to sit and do those things by a fire in your down time and keeps the gameplay flowing otherwise. Additionally, you can use experience points to unlock a wide variety of perks. While I don't mind the system, I was irked by the intrusive experience bar popping up even for each mundane task I did, like skinning a rabbit.
Walking through the wilderness, scavenging, and occasionally being accosted by terrifying wolves was all well and good, but things change when human aggressors enter the fray and firefights become a common thing (though careful work with the bow can occasionally keep heavy firefights from breaking out). Lara actually mentions to her mentor "It's frightening how easy it (killing) was," and I'm inclined to agree.
While the narrative is constantly trying to show the torn-down side of Lara, when you're in control, you feel completely empowered, which leads to some narrative dissonance. And while killing was rather easy and mechanical, I felt a bit tripped up by how many bullets enemies could occasionally soak up, which dampened the effect of murder and made things feel quite gamey.
That being said, the combat system plays well, particularly the organic cover. Rather than hitting a button to stick to cover, Lara will get in cover if you walk toward cover and leave it if you walk away. Surprisingly, this worked seamlessly and fluidly during my entire run through. In fact, I almost forgot there was a cover system at all.
Tomb Raider has a lot of the core stuff nailed down pat. It remains to be seen how Crystal Dynamics will take advantage of this fresh slate and tell this narrative, which is perhaps where the most critical eyes are turned to anyway; can the team validate the reboot and "tearing down" of Lara, or is it going to come off as an unnecessary dramatization of an already working formula just to pull people in by the grit? The strong voice acting (I particularly like Lara's friend Sam) and nuanced facial animations are a start as well as the intrigue set up the first few hours, but we'll have to wait until spring for the final verdict. Also, Lara's boots are really cool.


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Carriage Works Billet Grille 40051
- Our Price: $235.49
- Shipping:FREE SHIPPING
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- Rating: (14)
Free ShippingSelect your vehicle details above to ensure item compatibility.
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- Many popular vehicles have upper and bumper grille sections available
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- 1-Year Warranty
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Carriage Works Billet Grilles are made from aircraft-grade T6 aluminum that will look better and last far longer than cheap, painted plastic. The rear of each grille is powder coated with a black finish for superb rust protection. It is then finished off in one of three styles: black, brushed, or mirror polished. Carriage Works designs your Billet Grille precisely to your make, model, and year vehicle. With such a perfect fit, installing most Carriage Works Billet Grilles takes 30 minutes or less, with no cutting or modifications. If your skill level allows it can even be installed right at home.
Carriage Works backs your high-quality Billet Grille with a 1-year Warranty.
Carriage Works 40051 fits:
- 1991-1994 GMC S15 Jimmy
- 1991-1993 GMC Sonoma


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Successful First Day in Israel with Pilgrims
by Steve Ray on January 29, 2012
It was a good first day. The pilgrims all arrived in good shape at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. We jumped on our comfortable bus and headed to Galilee. Amer and I updated, shared, informed and welcomed all the great folks on the bus ride. What a great group of authentic Catholics ready to experience the life of Christ and the sacraments as we travel the land of Jesus and Mary, the Apostles and prophets, kings and martyrs.
We arrived in Tiberias for Mass, a wonderful dinner at Ron Beach Hotel and everyone is now in bed sleeping soundly to prepare for a busy day tomorrow. We will visit Mount Tabor (Mount of Transfiguration, renew marriage vows at Cana of Galilee, and Mass at the Grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Enjoy the video of today's arrival.


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The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) is set up with the purpose of fully exploiting the tourism potential of the State through sustained efforts by co-ordinating various Government departments, voluntary agencies and others interested in travel and tourism. The DTPC has a governing body with District Collector as Chairman and members from among officials, people's representatives and tourism experts nominated by the Government. The DTPC mainly concentrates on tourism promotion activities like marketing of local products through private/public participation, improvement of quality/standards and evolving procedure for certification of all tourism products, improvement of signages, sanitation etc by working through the local governments, heritage conservation and preservation, coordination of tourism clubs, creation of tourism awareness and preparation of host community, promotion of paying guest scheme, information dissemination and local basic infrastructure projects.
Working Hours
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMTuesday
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMWednesday
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMThursday
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMFriday
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMSaturday
10:00 AM - 05:00 PMSunday


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Quick & Easy Medical Terminology
Quick & Easy Medical Terminology
- Edition: 7th
- Format: Spiral Bound
- Copyright: 02/14/2013
- Publisher: Elsevier Science Health Science
- Newer Edition
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Make learning medical terminology faster and more fun with Quick & Easy Medical Terminology, 6th Edition! Featuring CDs with interactive games and audio pronunciations, this book helps you begin reading, writing, and speaking medical terms in the shortest time possible. Small chunks of information are always followed immediately by exercises, so students will be learning "every minute!" The many puzzles, activities, and games make it easier to understand and remember terminology. Written in a clear, conversational style by Peggy C. Leonard, MT, MEd, this book gives you the tools to communicate effectively in the health care environment. A companion CD reinforces learning with fun, interactive exercises, including medical reports and Hear It/Spell It exercises. Two audio CDs let you listen to correct pronunciations of medical terms and encourage you to pronounce each term aloud. A flexible, body systems organization lets you go through the material in any order after completing the orientation chapters, making it easy to coordinate your study with other courses such as anatomy and physiology. The programmed learning approach presents content in small blocks called 'frames' that allow you to learn the content and get immediate feedback on your progress before proceeding. Diverse learning styles are accommodated by a wide variety of exercises -- labeling diagrams, writing terms, choosing pronunciation accents, recognizing misspelled terms, matching word parts, interpreting terms within health reports, and categorizing terms. Unique! A conversational writing style makes the book more readable and enjoyable. Unique! Thorough explanations of terms help you understand and remember the material by presenting terminology in a medical context. A consistent format to body systems chapters uses categories to simplify the learning of terms, with each chapter including function; structure; diseases, disorders, and diagnostic terms; and surgical and therapeutic interventions. Healthcare reports and case studies allow you to apply your knowledge to real-life situations. A review of anatomy and physiology at the beginning of each body systems chapter provides a context for understanding the medical terminology. Drug information is integrated into the body systems chapters, with detailed information on specific drugs on CD. Caution boxes alert you to confusing terms. Spanish translations of key terms are listed in each chapter to help you communicate with Hispanic patients; glossaries are included in the appendix. Comprehensive end-of-chapter reviews correspond to the learning objectives at the beginning of the chapter. A bookmark includes a quick-reference guide to pronouncing terms plus a list of pronunciation symbols. A companion Evolve website includes study tips, electronic flashcards, Body Spectrum coloring pages, an English/Spanish glossary, learning activities that include Spanish term exercises, updates, and links to related sites. More short exercises include Find the Clue and Connections puzzles, letting you check your learning more often and stay on track. Procedures and terminology updates keep you current with new technologies and terms you'll encounter in the workplace. Quick Tips in the margins add essential information and interesting, fun facts. Games add fun and competition to exercises on the companion CD. More medical reports with exercises are included on the CD, allowing you to use terms in real-life situations.


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House-elf | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ugly Little Creeps Aren't They? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Scientific Classification | ||||||||||||||||||||
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How to Destroy a House Elf | ||||||||||||||||||||
Just one of these will let a House Elf know you mean business |
House Elves (Rowlingus Imaginarius) are short, grubby, disgusting little creatures with the likability factor of a Republican Vice-President. In the English class system they sit just below Gypsy Dogs and just above Chelsea Football Club. Due to a brain that is about as well crafted as one of those cheap Chinese water pistols you buy on market stalls, they speak very poor English (roughly as much the common household baguette) and can only just about perform simple tasks like cooking, cleaning and texting.
They were first introduced into homes by Toys R Us who intended to market them as cute, cuddly, amiable play-things that also did the washing up. Unfortunately at some point during the manufacturing process they threw all their designs in to a microwave with a sack of potatoes, a gerbil and an asthmatic skink. The result was the Dobby-1000. It was completely rejected by the human market, but oddly enough the wizarding community seized on the idea.
"Well, wizards have always liked dirty pieces of out-dated crap, so I thought 'What the hell, let's sell it to the bastards'"
Close to four million house-elves have been sold since the idea was first conceived in 1984 and 96% of those have been to wizards. The standard Dobby-1000 design has been through eight different versions since then, ultimately culminating in the Dobby - Mark V which was released in 2007. Since the 1000, they have gradually forgotten about the cute/cuddly side of the toy and focused on the subservience and general annoying qualities of the product. This has also resulted in the spawning of various other models of house elf, including the Car-Wash Elf, the Taxi-Driver Elf and the Naughty Play-Elf.
"Too ugly to get a wife? Too poor to get a prostitute? Then have we got a deal for you!"
Public Reaction[edit]
The human market found the very idea of house elves offensive. The principle argument being, why buy something so grotesquely ugly to do your house work when you could hire a naughty French maid? As a result of this they began taking house elves and egg-whisking them to death. The worst it ever got was in downtown Aberdeen when a gang of angry protesters high on cranberry cup-cakes and chocolate whisky, broke in to a Toys R Us armed with Moulinex blenders and systematically made a smoothy out of the shop's entire stock of the Dobby-1000. It was shortly after this that the product was taken off human shelves and began being sold to Wizards.
The reception was much more favourable here, as Wizards enjoyed having something uglier than them around to make them feel better about their own appearances. Given that House Elves rank at roughly 0.6 on the Zawaya-Moffett beauty scale (which runs from 1-10) they are somewhat less attractive than the average Wizard/Witch for which the mean rating is 3.5 (with notable exceptions like Hermione Granger). The fact they could do house work was simply a bonus to their looks.
The only significant drawback to House Elf sales in the initial days was their bloody annoying, uncontrollable need to serve their masters (i.e. the person who bought them) and their often sadomasochistic tendencies when kicked out of their owner's house after the owner's inevitable loss of interest or sudden sheer disgust at the foul, perverse and cretinous creature they suddenly realise they have let into their home. As a result, the following version (the Dobby - 2000) was programmed with the clothing escape clause, by which the owners could give their House Elves clothing in order to dismiss them from their service. Despite popular belief, this does not entail the house elf leaving the master's house and searching for work elsewhere, it entails them leaving the master's house and finding the nearest place to destroy themselves with the piece of clothing they have been given. This usually takes place in the form of a self-smothering or hanging, but cases have been known of elves devising more elaborate ways of destroying their lives. One such incident involved an elf using the pair of tights he had just been given, tied between two trees, to catapult himself in to a nearby river.
This has not proved popular with certain activists, but no one listens to them because they have no friends, losers.
Rogue Elves[edit]
Despite the different measures and fail-safes built in to the various House Elf models, there have been instances of elves going rogue. This usually occurs after an unsuccessful destruction attempt. The house elf is given clothes and goes out to destroy itself.The Rouge Elves are a group of elves that do not wish to follow the rules of the house elm code and are lead by their lead 'Tommy Hacking' who, to show his leadership rank, dresses differently from all the others, he wears huge open neck t-shirts that show his chest and a leather jacket with brown shoulder pads with skinny jeans and military boots. Benefits of achieving this rank are that he gets a 'Golden ear lobe' membership to the gym and receives a free daily dose of anabolic steroids so that he can be strong enough to fend off any attackers or elf police that attempt to arrest him for all the mischievous things he gets up to. He almost lost his leading rank due to loss of confidence from his followers by going to a pjama party but he soon gained it all back when he nailed a dwarf.Yet after the attempt on their lives, they tragically survive. This can be very dangerous indeed, as according to their programming the house elf has fulfilled its ownership obligation and destroyed itself. Yet it is still technically alive. The elf is therefore free of all human/wizard control and completely independent. In most cases they are destroyed quickly as they often find the need, after this occurs, to go out and drink vast amounts of alcopops. This either results in alcohol poisoning or the elf being beaten to death with a pool cue, as when elves have a lot to drink they tend to sing, tap-dance and be generally disagreeable and hugely annoying. There are a number of cases when this has not occurred, however, and these elves have gone out into the world and attempted to assimilate themselves into society. Most have plastic surgery first to avoid suspicion and persecution as house elves have less rights than the democratic party. Most of them are harmless, but are nevertheless illegal. Often they will give themselves away by: acting in an unintelligible manner, being needlessly helpful, taking up folk dancing or becoming a Republican Vice Presidential Candidate.


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Non-Fiction Reviews
The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson
- The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (The Liberation Trilogy)
- Henry Holt and Company, 791 pp.
The Allied Invasion of Italy
This long, well documented book by Rick Atkinson is one of the best accounts of any war to appear in the last decade or more. The Day of Battle is the second volume in Atkinson's planned trilogy on the Western Allies' campaigns against the Axis in Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army at Dawn, told the story of the invasion of North Africa, and the third will run from the Normandy invasion in June 1944 to Hitler's end the following spring.
The new book begins with a fascinating account of how in Washington, early in 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the successful Allied campaign against the Germans and Italians in North Africa must be followed by an attack on Italy itself. Roosevelt and the U.S. chiefs of staff would have preferred to concentrate Allied forces in Britain, for an early attack across the British Channel into German-occupied France.
As always, the future was unknowable. Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff, told his American colleagues that if the Allies mounted an attack on Italy, in Churchill's phrase "the soft underbelly of Europe," the overall war in Europe might be won by 1944. Without the invasion of Italy, a cross-Channel attack might not be feasible until 1945 or even 1946.
The British won the day. On the morning of July 9, 1943 Allied forces led by British General Bernard Law Montgomery and American General George S. Patton landed on the southern coast of Sicily. What few readers may know is that there was no full agreement in the Allied high command as to what should happen after Sicily was taken; perhaps the invaders would not go on from the island to invade the Italian mainland.
We have long known from military histories that things did not go well in that invasion. Atkinson brings it all out, quoting the famous front-line cartoonist Bill Mauldin: Nobody really knows what he's doing. The 82nd Airborne Division, renowned today for its decades of skilled service, jumped into Sicily after receiving only a third as much training as some other divisions. Five-sixths of the paratroopers landed far from the planned drop zones because the pilots got lost. Some planes strayed into the British zone, and eight of them were lost to "friendly fire." Not only the Americans had problems. The British Eighth Army planned an assault by 1,700 troops to be landed by 144 gliders. The towplane pilots got lost, the glider pilots were untrained, the weather was bad, and only 54 gliders made land–and a number of those crashed and killed the men they were carrying. There were atrocities, and some on the Allied side. In one case soldiers of the U.S. 180th Infantry murdered fifty to seventy Italian soldiers who had surrendered and been disarmed.
Atkinson relies mainly on American and British sources, published and unpublished, including a number of interviews he did with surviving participants in the Italian war. He also enlisted the help of people in Italy with translations. What is missing is a full account from German sources of how the Wehrmacht fought the invaders, in Sicily and later. We cannot, then, call this the definitive history of the Italian campaign; nor does Atkinson claim that it is.
The author nevertheless gives us an excellent feel for what the war was like on not only the Allied but the Axis–mainly German–side. The Wehrmacht commander was a brilliant, fearless, and ultimately cruel Field Marshal named Albrecht Kesselring, who had anticipated for six months that the initial Allied move into Southern Europe would be the invasion of Sicily. He thought all of Italy was defensible–if the Italians would fight alongside the Wehrmacht. The Italians had ten divisions in Sicily, the Germans just two. Soon after the Sicily invasion began, Kesselring began to receive reports at his headquarters in Frascati, outside Rome, that whole Italian divisions were evaporating. He flew down to Sicily, and brought two more Wehrmacht divisions to the island. These Germans were by and large skilled and experienced soldiers; more experienced than the Americans they opposed. Four Wehrmacht divisions could not, however, stand up to an Allied force that came to outnumber them in Sicily three to one–for after Mussolini was deposed on July 25 the Italians could not be counted on at all, although the new regime in Rome told Hitler that Italy would continue to fight.
Many Americans still recall the figure of George Patton, the brave and irascible general, played by George C. Scott in the 1970 film, who was castigated for slapping a sick soldier. He and his British counterpart, Montgomery, were two egotistical types, each intent on becoming the conqueror of Sicily. Montgomery moved without warning across Patton's front, preventing Patton from cutting the main escape route for the Italian and German units that would need to cross the Strait of Messina to reach the Italian mainland. Patton, for his part, was hellbent on reaching Messina before the British, and disinterested in coordination with Montgomery.
As Atkinson makes clear, there was no coordinated Allied plan to prevent Kesselring from evacuating Sicily. The Germans knew the importance of getting what they called "our valuable human material" to the mainland, and with what the author calls precise choreography the Wehrmacht divisions crossed the Strait of Messina with minimal losses–because the Allies did not attack the ferrying operation with either their strategic bomber force or their ships.
One wishes that the author had drawn parallels between the successful German withdrawal from Sicily and Robert E. Lee's successful retreat across the Potomac River into Virginia, after his Confederate army was defeated at Gettysburg in 1863. When the Union commander, George G. Meade, cabled President Abraham Lincoln triumphantly that the Confederates had fled Northern soil, Lincoln was distraught that Meade had not pursued the enemy. Lincoln saw, as his general did not, that it was the destruction of Lee's army and not the liberation of Northern soil that would end the war.
Eighty years later, no one at the top–not President Roosevelt, U.S. Army chief of staff George C. Marshall, or Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, and not Churchill or his generals, including General Sir Harold R.L.G. Alexander, the overall commander of Allied armies in italy–saw the need to annihilate the Wehrmacht divisions at Messina before they crossed the strait.
In any case, Sicily at the end of August 1943 was lost to the Axis, and as Atkinson says, additional gains did accrue to the Allies. The Mediterranean became much safer for Allied shipping, including supplies bound through the Suez Canal to the Soviet Union and Allied forces in southern Asia.
The strategic problem of Italy however remained, indeed increased, when Hitler sent an additional twelve Wehrmacht divisions down into Italy to join the four divisions that had escaped from Sicily and retreated up the Italian boot. There was for the moment, Atkinson writes, no strategic guidance for Allied commanders; should a major campaign be mounted to push northward? Montgomery and his Eighth Army began a leisurely progress up through Calabria, meeting little opposition.
On September 8, 1943 the Italian government announced it was surrendering its armed forces. Soon the enlarged German force took over effective control of Italy. Mussolini was rescued from detention in an operation led by a daring SS colonel, and taken north to head a new puppet state, the Italian Social Republic, in Lombardy. One can read much, especially in Italian sources, of the anti-Wehrmacht operations of Italian partisans; those however came mainly later. The coming months would see war waged in Italy between the Wehrmacht and an Allied force composed of American and British armies that also included Canadian, French, and Polish divisions.
The Allies decided that while Montgomery's army continued to make its way up the Italian boot, they should stage an amphibious invasion at Salerno, not far south of Naples. As Atkinson tells us, Allied intelligence learned much about German plans through ULTRA, the top-secret program that was intercepting Wehrmacht messages. But Kesselring also had means at his disposal, including reconnaissance planes, and after concluding that a landing would be made at Salerno he "displayed the agility so characteristic of his generalship." When the Allies landed on September 9 the Wehrmacht was waiting for them.
The fighting at Salerno was more difficult than the invasion commander, U.S. General Mark Clark, had anticipated. After several days Clark wondered whether his force would have to be evacuated. He denied later having seriously considered this possibility, but meanwhile some other commanders, Atkinson says, privately questioned his fortitude. Questions about him remain even today, and Atkinson says frankly that he was in over his head at Salerno. Even less favorable is Atkinson's description of how, while the Salerno beachhead was close to being overrun by the Germans, Montgomery and his Eighth Army of 64,000 troops continued to amble slowly northward toward them, "patching demolished bridges and holding medals ceremonies."
After nine long days the Allies won out at Salerno and the Wehrmacht retreated. Naples was taken and the road to Rome lay ahead; but a brave American lieutenant colonel named John J. Toffey, whom we see much of in this book, wrote that it looked like the road to hell. There were difficult mountains to cross and soon enough winter weather arrived. The Germans had had time to prepare a well fortified line, then another, and it was not until the end of May 1944 that the Allies broke through and, on June 4, entered Rome. It is in Rome that the book ends, with an epilogue that summarizes the long battle that lay ahead until the war in Europe ended in 1945, with the Wehrmacht still in Lombardy. No one on the Allied side had foreseen how hard it would be to get as far as Rome. No one foresaw how difficult the battles beyond Rome would be; British General Alexander wrote Churchill that neither the Apennines nor the Alps should prove a serious obstacle to the Allied forces moving up Italy toward Germany.
The generals should, of course, have known by now that they should not make blithe predictions. After Naples had fallen and the Allied advance stalled in the mountains northward toward Rome, it was decided to make another amphibious landing, at Anzio. This was something Churchill pushed hard for; if it worked, Rome–just 34 miles north–should fall quickly. However, as Atkinson might have done well to recall, there had been a case in the First World War when Churchill, as First Sea Lord, had engineered an amphibious landing, in the Dardanelles, that proved a disaster.
The Allies went ashore at Anzio in February 1944 and things did not work well at all; for a moment it seemed that their beachhead might be destroyed; in the end, with good air support and what Atkinson calls "singularly good" American artillery, disaster was averted and the Allies won the day.
The author gives an excellent account of the hard winter war that was meanwhile being waged a little farther inland. The reviewer has walked over some of the mountains that were fought over; they rise only four or five thousand feet above sea level but their slopes can be steep and the vegetation thick and thorny–and in 1943-44, Wehrmacht machine guns sprayed the slopes. Readers of this book should also read And No Birds Sang, the stark account of this campaign that was published in 1979 by Farley Mowat, who became famous with People of the Deer and Never Cry Wolf years after he had served as a Canadian lieutenant in Italy.
Many of the heroes in this book turn out to have blemishes, large or small. One who does not is young Colonel Toffey, killed by a tank round at Palestrina the day before Rome fell. The campaign to liberate Italy lasted 608 days and cost 312,000 Allied casualties, 40 percent of them American. German casualties were far higher, perhaps half a million, half of them dead or missing. The soft underbelly of Europe proved to contain much granite and gore.
Peter Bridges is a former ambassador to Somalia and cofounder of the Elk Mountains Hikers Club in Colorado. He was born in New Orleans, grew up in Chicago, and studied at Dartmouth College and Columbia University. Aside from CLR, his articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in the "Christian Science Monitor," "Foreign Service Journal," "Los Angeles Times," "Michigan Quarterly Review," "Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London," "Virginia Quarterly Review," "Washington Times," and elsewhere. Beyonce Net Worth


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By Alan Duke
(CNN) — Justin Bieber was charged Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto a month ago, police said.
It was the 19-year-old pop star's second arrest in a week, including a drunken driving charge that — according to Miami Beach police — lab tests show involved drugs.
A urine sample taken from Bieber after last week's Florida arrest tested positive for marijuana and Xanax, Miami Beach police said Thursday. The police report said he admitted after his arrest that he had smoked pot and taken a prescription drug.
Bieber arrived at a Toronto police station for booking Wednesday evening amid a chaotic scene as determined photographers, reporters, screaming fans and the curious converged around his SUV. About a dozen Toronto police officers shoved their way through the crowd to escort Bieber, getting him through the door only after a struggle.
The alleged incident happened after the limo driver picked up a group of six people outside a Toronto nightclub just before 3 a.m. December 30, according to a police statement.
"While driving the group to a hotel, an altercation occurred between one of the passengers and the driver of the limousine," the police statement said. "In the course of the altercation, a man struck the limousine driver on the back of the head several times. The driver stopped the limousine, exited the vehicle and called police."
Bieber left the Toronto police station Wednesday night, according to a reporter for CTV.
The singer attended a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game at the Air Canada Centre earlier in the evening, according to the CBC.
Bieber is set to appear in a Toronto court on March 10, police said.
Bieber's representative sent a written statement to CNN as the singer was inside the police station.
"The Toronto Police Service requested that Justin Bieber appear in Toronto today to face an allegation of assault relating to an incident on December 29, 2013," the statement said. "We anticipate that this matter will be treated as a summary offense, the equivalent of a misdemeanor in the United States."
"Our position is that Mr. Bieber is innocent," the representative said. "As the matter is now before the court, it would be inappropriate to address the specifics of either the allegation or of our defense at this time."
Bieber was briefly jailed in Miami on January 23 after he was stopped by a police officer who said he was drag racing in a residential street. He was booked on charges of drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.
Sheriff's detectives in Los Angeles presented evidence this week to the district attorney in their investigation of Bieber's alleged egg attack on a neighbor's house three weeks ago. The prosecutor is expected to decide as early as next week whether Bieber will be charged with felony vandalism for the incident.
Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, has posted messages on Twitter that appear to be related to Wednesday's arrest:
"for all those asking @JeremyBieber and @pattiemallette love their son. Stop passing judgement on a situation u dont understand. i ask people to be kind and hope for the best in people. not assume the worst. thanks"
Bieber's latest criminal arrest came just an hour after the television debut of his newest video, for his song "Confident."
CNN was first alerted to the story through a Twitter posting from Toronto.
Egging investigation 'tightening up'
Detectives are "tightening up" their case against Bieber in his alleged egg attack on a neighbor's residence, an investigator said Tuesday.
The neighbor accused Bieber of tossing eggs over a fence and onto the mansion next door on January 9, causing an estimated $20,000 in damage.
A dozen Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies raided Bieber's $6.5 million home in the exclusive Oaks community in Calabasas, California, two weeks ago, taking the security video system as evidence.
A prosecutor reviewed the security video Monday and asked detectives to do more investigation before a decision is made about charging the pop star with felony vandalism, according to Lt. David Thompson.
Detectives will probably meet again with prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office next week, Thompson said. The district attorney will then decide whether a charge will be filed against Bieber.
Miami arrest
On Wednesday, Bieber's lawyer entered a written plea of not guilty for charges he faces in Miami, according to the Miami Dade County court docket. His attorney also requested a jury trial.
The plea means Bieber will not have to return to Florida for formal arraignment on the DUI, resisting arrest without violence and driving on expired license charges.
Although Breathalyzer tests suggest that Bieber was not too drunk to legally drive when he was pulled over by Miami Beach police early on January 23, the urine test results show pot and the prescription sedative in Bieber's system.
Bieber blew .011 and .014 in two Breathalyzer tests given to him at the police station, according to a source with knowledge of the results. Florida's legal limit for drivers under the drinking age of 21 is .02. The police report said Bieber failed a field sobriety test given to him at the police station. He admitted to drinking, using marijuana and taking prescription pills, police said.
Although Bieber was not charged with speeding, the arresting officer said it was his reason for stopping Bieber and testing his sobriety.
The head of the exotic car rental company that owns the yellow Lamborghini Bieber was driving said Saturday that the GPS tracking system in the high-performance car indicated Bieber never exceeded 55 mph in the 15 minutes before the stop.
The Breathalyzer tests and the GPS information could help Bieber lawyer Roy Black in his defense of the singer.
Bieber fled Miami late January 24, boarding a private jet for a flight to Panama City, Panama. Paparazzi photos showed Bieber strolling along a beach on the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, kicking a soccer ball while others kite-surfed above the waves.
Other photos showed his manager, Braun, and mentor Usher Raymond with Bieber at the Panama resort. His representatives have been silent about the criminal charges, declining to comment.
CNN's Tory Dunnan, Carolyn Sung, Stephanie Gallman and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.
™ & © 2014 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.


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SOMERVILLE — Abigail Hammond is at a loss for words. Her makeshift family is falling apart. An upended sofa stands in the living room in her first-floor Inman Square apartment — a reminder that one of her roommates is moving out.
"I feel like this general dissolution," said the 28-year-old yoga instructor, who is trying to gain a foothold in her life, in her career. "I realize that this kind of community . . . it's hard to find. It's not just a home."
The three-decker house on Dimick Street that Hammond has lived in for three years is under agreement to be sold, the closing scheduled for mid-August. Already five of the 11 tenants have scrambled to find new housing in order to beat the 20 percent rent increase coming in September and the student rush.
Hammond is stuck, not sure whether to stay or go.
Across town in East Somerville, Miriam Coutinho, a 28-year-old native of Brazil, can't fathom leaving the four-bedroom she shares with her husband and two children and uses as a base for her day care — even with the rent rising twice in one year. "Oh, my God," she said, "if I had to move out — that question is making me nervous."
Hammond and Coutinho share a love for the neighborhoods in which they live and work, but now that affection is mixed with a deep anxiety.
As Somerville's gentrification efforts come to fruition, and with the development of Union Square and the MBTA Green Line extension more certain, the city, once dubbed "Slummerville," is shedding its undermarket identity. Caught up in the transition are the very folks who help make the community vibrant and diverse — artists, entrepreneurs, college grads, immigrant families, blue-collar workers, young professionals — forcing some to abandon the urban nexus for more affordable housing farther and farther away from the communities they helped build.
Think of it as dominoes falling.
Clink. Clink.
"It's like Cambridge all over again," said Max Dublin of Hammond Real Estate, the listing agent for the house on Dimick Street (Abigail Hammond has no affiliation with the agency). "It's only natural that Somerville was next."
The "domino effect" in real estate is a chain reaction set off by rising rents and home prices in one community, forcing those who can't afford to stay to topple, like dominoes, into the next affordable neighborhood. It is common in high-cost metropolitan areas such as Boston, according to Nicolas P. Retsinas, senior lecturer in real estate at the Harvard Business School.
Up until the past few years, Somerville has been that affordable neighborhood, an alternative to high-rent Boston and Cambridge, allowing anyone who longed for the vibrancy of a city and proximity to the Hub a piece of property (bought or rented) in exchange for a little grit and a blighted block or two.
But that blight has morphed into prettier streets and higher property values. With the constant influx of students and empty-nesters now flocking to Boston, city living is in high demand.
Dublin sees local and foreign investors with deep pockets making offers 5 percent to 10 percent or more above asking price. Homes are being sold within days or weeks, not months. "The word I keep coming back to is 'crazy,' " Dublin said. The Dimick Street house was listed at $1.1 million.
Mirroring that trend: Since 2011, the median, or midpoint, rent in Somerville has jumped by about 30 percent, from $1,683 to $2,183, according to Zillow.com.
Erika Pereira, a realtor with Arlington-based Bowes Real Estate, acknowledged the domino effect, but said the path is different this time: "We are not in a typical market by any means."
Medford and Arlington, usually the next stops for affordable housing stock after Somerville, are already seeing increases in home sales and rents. This is forcing folks to look to cities such as Salem and Quincy or even out of state.
"This is not that new of a phenomenon," said Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Greater Boston's land use-planning agency. "It's been a very expensive housing market for my entire career."
For decades, low-income families have been displaced as communities have gentrified, turning to housing in the "Gateway Cities" like Lowell and Brockton, Draisen said, and now it's affecting the middle class. "We need young families to take these jobs [once held by baby boomers]. They can't stay here because they can't find a place to live."
One out of every two households in Eastern Massachusetts is cost burdened, he said. That's when you spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing. One out of four is shelling out more than 50 percent.
Anastasia Cazabon, a filmmaker and video editor who works at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, is one of the tenants who split from the Dimick Street house. She found a room in a Union Square apartment she'll share with two others, the same setup as before, but for $100 more.
The 30-year-old Cambridge native, however, is fed up with rent increases and the poor conditions of the apartments she can afford. In an e-mail, Cazabon lists "bedbugs, mice, condemned porches, black mold in bathrooms, holes in walls, homeless people living in basements" among the conditions she has endured.
"I don't know many people who are originally from here [like myself] that can afford to live here anymore," Cazabon wrote. "I'm actually probably going to be moving in a year to another city, because the rent is so unaffordable and, unfortunately, Boston doesn't have enough to offer for artists/creative types, so it really isn't worth it for me to stay here."
Coutinho is a member of Somerville Community Corp., a group that advocates for diversity and sustainable affordable housing.
Within the past six months, her rent rose by $200, to $1,700. In six months, the rent is going to be $2,000. She knows that when the Green Line extension comes it will go even higher. Her husband, Samuel, also Brazilian, is looking for a second job on top of his full-time work at Market Basket on Somerville Avenue stocking shelves. "He didn't find anything yet," she said. "My husband doesn't want to leave Somerville."
Coutinho has applied for a three-bedroom apartment in Saint Polycarp Village , a new affordable-housing complex with 84 units in Winter Hill.
Hammond doesn't want to leave, either. She can bike to her nutrition-counseling practice near Davis Square. She walks to her yoga classes next to the Market Basket, where she has purchased store-brand items like oatmeal to save money and picked up the occasional 89-cent can of Goya black beans.
She lived in the same neighborhood while in grad school at Boston University, paying $550 for rent five years ago. When she moved away to take a job in upstate New York, she lasted two years. "I moved back here for this kind of lifestyle," she said.
Over the past three years she and her housemates shared meals, celebrated birthdays, squeezed lawn chairs onto the patch of grass in the backyard to watch "Pulp Fiction" on a sheet, and held corn-free Fourth of July parties that would make mono-crop protesters proud. When Hammond was making a birthday cheesecake for roommate Yaroslav "Yaro" Tenzer, she borrowed an electric mixer in a pinch.
If she stays in the apartment, Hammond faces the 20 percent increase in rent in September, from $750 to $900 — not a lot of dough unless you consider she already spends close to half of her modest income on housing and needs to find another roommate to make it work. If she goes, she needs to invest the time — now — to look for something that won't uproot her whole life.
It may be too late for that.
Naomi Kooker is a Boston-based journalist. Send comments to email@example.com.


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Kansas Supreme Court: Public school funding unconstitutional
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Kansas Supreme Court said Friday the state's current public school funding levels are unconstitutional.
In the much-anticipated ruling, the court said Kansas' poor school districts were harmed when the state made the decision to cut certain payments when tax revenues declined during the Great Recession.
The Supreme Court sent the case back to district court for more review to "promptly" determine what the adequate amount of funding should be, but didn't set a deadline for a hearing. It did, however, set a July 1 deadline for legislators to restore money for two funds aimed at helping poorer districts with capital improvements and general school operations.
A state Department of Education official estimates legislators must increase funding by $129 million, in addition to the more than $3 billion the state has budgeted for the 2014-2015 school year.
The case also has broader implications beyond the classroom: Kansas enacted sweeping cuts to income taxes in 2012 and 2013 championed by Gov. Sam Brownback that have reduced the amount of available resources to comply with a court order. Lawmakers could be forced to reconsider the tax measures, which Kansas and other Republican-run states have pushed as a means to stimulate their economies.
Kansas legislators had delayed any decisions on school funding until the high court made a final judgment.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 on behalf of parents and school districts who argued the state had harmed students because spending cuts resulted in lower test scores. State attorneys maintained that legislators did their best to minimize cuts to education.
A three-judge panel in Shawnee County District Court said in January 2013 that the lawsuit was valid, and the state appealed that ruling to the high court.
John Robb, an attorney for the plaintiffs, saw Friday's ruling as a victory because the justices rejected the state's arguments that the issues in the case were political ones, to be determined by the Legislature and governor.
He predicted that after the next round of lower-court hearings, the outcome will mirror what happened previously: An order for the state to increase its total annual spending on schools by at least $440 million.
"I see that we have to go around the block again," he said.
Robb also said that the general guidelines set by the high court to help determine how much the state must spend overall are in line with what the parents and school districts had suggested.
Brownback, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and legislative leaders scheduled a Friday afternoon news conference to discuss the ruling.
"This is a complex decision that requires thoughtful review," Brownback said in a statement. "I will work with leadership in the Kansas Senate and House to determine a path forward that honors our tradition of providing a quality education to every child and that keeps our schools open, our teachers teaching and our students learning."
House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stillwell, and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said they were reviewing the ruling.
Because no issues involving the U.S. Constitution were raised, there's no appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
CBS affiliate WIBW reports that the lawsuit was filed in 2010 by attorneys representing four school districts and parents. They alleged that the state reneged on promises made in 2006 to provide a certain level of funding to Kansas public schools. Those promises were made in a settlement of a lawsuit filed against the state in 1999.
In recent years, school districts have trimmed their staffs, cut after-school programs and raised fees for parents. Classrooms became more crowded.
State attorneys had said legislators did the best they could to maintain education spending among the reduced available revenues during the recession, pointing to efforts to raise the state sales tax rate in 2010 and the reliance on federal stimulus funding to keep spending stable.
All states have language in their constitutions for providing public school funding. But Kansas' courts in the past have been strong and specific in spelling out how the state must carry out that responsibility, and education advocates wondered earlier this year whether the push in Kansas to base funding on costs - not political considerations - would continue, perhaps emboldening parents and educators in other states.
Brownback's personal income tax cuts will be worth nearly $3.9 billion over the next five years, and he has claimed that Kansas is leading a low-tax, small-government "American renaissance." Republican leaders in the GOP-dominated Legislature suggested before they convened in January that they might resist an order for more spending.
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JPEG vs. RAW.
Most modern digital cameras shoot and save images as JPEG or RAW files. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, but photographers should use the most appropriate format for their needs — especially because it can affect the editing process. Understand the differences between JPEG and RAW and choose the right file format for your next project.
What you'll learn.
- What is a JPEG file?
- What is a RAW file?
- What is the difference between JPEG and RAW files?
- JPEG vs. RAW files: frequently asked questions
What is a JPEG file?
A Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file is a lossy raster file format that compresses an image to make the file smaller. JPEG files are some of the most popular and widely used image formats in the world. Photographers can shoot in JPEG mode, while graphic designers, illustrators and other creatives can edit their work in them.
What is a RAW file?
A RAW file contains all the uncompressed and unprocessed image data captured by the sensors of a digital camera or scanner. They're also a type of raster file format, but one that maintains lossless quality. RAW files are not images — they're just large files filled with the image data as it was captured.
What is the difference between JPEG and RAW files?
Professional and amateur photographers regularly debate whether shooting in JPEG or RAW is better. While both raster file formats share similarities, there are some key advantages and disadvantages to each type. Discover the differences between JPEG and RAW files.
File sizes.
The main difference between any JPEG and RAW file is its size. RAW files are significantly bigger than JPEG (and any other) image file formats.
That's because they contain all the raw image information captured by your digital camera's sensors, completely uncompressed. Like working with a film negative from a traditional camera, the RAW file holds all the original detail, so you have complete control over what you do with it.
This makes it ideal for sharing in a large-format setting — such as blowing up to fill a billboard. Shooting RAW also means you'll need larger memory cards and that they'll fill up quickly, so you might not be able to shoot as much as in one go.
JPEG files are a much more manageable size because the data they contain is compressed. When shooting in JPEG, the camera's image processor has essentially developed the image already. Their smaller size enables you to store more files in one place — whether on your camera, computer or another storage device.
Image quality.
The main advantage of shooting in RAW is that you end up with high-quality files to edit into the best possible image. Capturing and storing all the details that pass through your camera's sensors means RAW files contain a wider dynamic range and far greater colour spectrum than JPEGs.
If a RAW image is under or overexposed, the wider dynamic range makes recovery a lot easier, with greater control over sharpening. Because RAW files are lossless, unprocessed and uncompressed, they maintain their original high-quality and don't experience any drops in resolution due to resizing.
When your camera compresses a RAW file into a JPEG image, it undergoes a lossy compression process. While the compression makes the file smaller, you will lose some of the data and detail from the photograph and the image could appear grainy or pixelated. Because JPEGs are 8-bit, there are also colour limitations compared to RAW files that can be 12 and 16-bit.
Editing and sharing.
You need to process and convert a RAW file into a JPEG, TIFF or another relevant format before you can open and edit it. Software such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom enables you to process RAW files, edit and export as, for example, a JPEG or PNG — making a copy so you still have the RAW file with all its detail.
Because they're so large, sharing RAW files can be challenging. Plus, whoever is receiving them will need the appropriate software to open RAW files. That's why many clients, printers and designers request a JPEG file so they can easily open and preview it first.
JPEGs are one of the most used digital file formats, supported by many modern devices and software. As a type of raster file, you can easily open JPEGs with many programmes, share via email, social media and other channels. The main drawback is the quality difference, compared to RAW files and having less to work with when editing.
JPEG images are already processed, so can be quickly transferred from the camera and opened with editing software or sent directly to someone, with no post-processing. Their smaller size makes transfers fast and avoids any camera slowdown when shooting, too.
With RAW files, you need to factor in the time it will take to process and convert the file into a JPEG, PNG or TIFF. This means storing two versions of the same image, which uses up more storage space and leads to longer backups and transfers. It can also cause camera slowdown when shooting RAW, meaning your frame rate may fall.
JPEG vs. RAW files: frequently asked questions.
Is a RAW file bigger than a JPEG file?
Generally, a RAW file will be between two and six times larger than a JPEG file. RAW files are bigger because they contain a much greater amount of image data. A JPEG image is essentially all that data compressed down into a smaller file size that's easier to share.
Does converting RAW to JPEG affect quality?
Going from a RAW file to a JPEG will affect quality because you're converting to a lossy format. RAW files contain a high amount of detail — converting to a JPEG means compressing the details into a much smaller file size with less space to store image data.
Should you always shoot in RAW?
Many professional photographers shoot in RAW because the format captures the highest level of detail. It can often be easier to edit exposure later with a RAW file. However, shooting in JPEG has its benefits, since their smaller file sizes allow you to shoot more images at once and transfer files faster.
Why do my RAW files show up as JPEG?
Depending on the camera you use, shooting in RAW may sometimes cause the files to show up as JPEGS by default. The original RAW file should still be there though. On your camera settings in the editing mode, choose the option to "Use RAW as original," if possible.
What does RAW + JPEG mean?
RAW + JPEG mode is available on some digital cameras and lets you shoot and save in both file formats at the same time. This saves two copies — the original RAW file and a JPEG. This lets you preview and use a JPEG image immediately — but uses up more memory since you have two files for just one image.
Compare JPEGs and RAWs with other file types.
Discover the compression differences between JPEG and TIFFs.
Compare the features of two popular digital image file types.
Discover which file format is better for storing raw image data.
Is the newer version of this file format better than its predecessor?
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With a sound all their own and a stage show to match, Bombadil is, if nothing else, one of the freshest bands to emerge in a long time. The band draws on a unique melange of influences to create sound that is unclassifiable. The group was born in Bolivia, and the folk music indigenous to the region incorporates international instruments and styles. That influence, paired with backgrounds in Piedmont blues, psychedelic rock and Stuart Robinson's background as a classical pianist, stands as the driving force behind the band's unique sound.
Recorded at the 2011 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Festival.
Checkout Bombadil's Website.


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The Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) is a tool for the botanical community that deals with plant names and their usage in the scientific literature, whether as a current name or synonym. APNI does not recommend any particular taxonomy or nomenclature. For a listing of currently accepted scientific names for the Australian vascular flora, please use the Australian Plant Census (APC) link above.
Showing Chonemorpha
- Plantae(reg.)
- Charophyta(div.)
- Equisetopsida(cl.)
- Magnoliidae(subcl.)
- Asteranae(superordo)
- Gentianales(ordo)
- Apocynaceae(fam.)
- Chonemorpha(gen.)
APC Dist.: Qld (doubtfully naturalised)


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Get the information you need, when you need it, with Forex news, charting and analysis right at hand as you trade.
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Honda Aircraft Co. expands HondaJet sales to Europe
April 20, 2008, Grensboro, NC - Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., has announced plans to expand sales of HondaJet to Europe, beginning in May.
April 20, 2008 By Carey Fredericks
April 20, 2008, Grensboro, NC – Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., has announced plans to expand sales of HondaJet to Europe, beginning in May at the annual EBACE (European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition) conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
The sales expansion comes as Honda Aircraft Company today finalized its U.S. distribution network with the selection of Albany, New York, as the final location among its five sales and service facilities being established across the country.
Honda's decision to expand sales of its advanced light jet to the rapidly growing European market is in response to strong demand for the aircraft from customers throughout the region. Offering class-leading performance, fuel efficiency, interior cabin space and cargo capacity, HondaJet is well suited to meet the needs of European business and personal light jet owners and operators.
"We are excited to initiate sales in Europe, where we have received a steady stream of inquiries from interested customers who will now have the opportunity to reserve delivery of a HondaJet," said Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Company president and CEO. "We are committed to providing our customers with both a class-leading product and a sales and service support system that exceed their expectations for private jet ownership and travel."
Honda recently expanded HondaJet sales throughout North America, announcing the establishment of a sales and service strategy for Mexico and Canada. "The expansion of HondaJet sales to Europe is an important step in the continued evolution of our business strategy, which seeks to address the extensive worldwide demand for HondaJet," said Fujino.
Further details regarding the HondaJet European sales and service support strategy and delivery timing will be released by Honda on May 20, 2008, at EBACE.
With the selection of Albany, N.Y., as the location for its HondaJet East sales and service facility, Honda has completed the establishment of a nationwide U.S. sales and service infrastructure for HondaJet. Tallahassee, Fla. (HondaJet Southeast), Aurora, Ill. (HondaJet Midwest), Phoenix, Ariz. (HondaJet Southwest), and Salt Lake City, Utah (HondaJet Northwest) previously have been announced as HondaJet sales and service locations. Honda has established its U.S. sales and service network to provide unparalleled quality and convenience to HondaJet customers, with flight times for all customers to their nearest facility limited to 90 minutes or less.
Construction on all of the U.S. HondaJet sales and service facilities will begin in the near future, and completion is scheduled to coincide with the anticipated certification and first deliveries of HondaJet in 2010.
About HondaJet
Honda Aircraft Company began U.S. sales of the HondaJet in October 2006 and quickly amassed orders for well over 100 units. HondaJet is Honda's first-ever commercial aircraft and lives up to the company's reputation for dynamic performance together with superior efficiency, delivering class-topping cruise speed and fuel efficiency, greater luggage capacity and a more spacious cabin with seating for up to eight people, compared to other similarly sized jet aircraft. All major assembly and testing of the prototype HondaJet has been conducted at the company's existing Greensboro, N.C., facility, which opened in 2001 as an extension of Honda's global R&D operations.
Working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Honda Aircraft Company anticipates its first test flight of a conforming model in early 2009, with the overall timetable calling for the achievement of type certification in 2010. The company is scheduled to begin deliveries of HondaJet to U.S. customers in 2010. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification is being pursued concurrently with FAA certification.
All HondaJet customer deliveries will take place at Honda Aircraft Company's new world delivery center, currently under construction along with its new world headquarters, R&D facility, and production plant at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The world headquarters and R&
facility are scheduled for completion in summer 2008, with the production plant and delivery center scheduled for completion in late 2009.
Worldwide HondaJet pilot training will be conducted in partnership with Flight Safety International, which will include the development of a Level-D full-motion flight simulator for HondaJet. The first simulator will be installed at Honda Aircraft Company's new headquarters facility. Additional training facilities will be established in the future as HondaJet sales continue to grow.
Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Founded in Japan in 1948, Honda began operations in the U.S. in 1959 with the establishment of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda's first overseas subsidiary. Learn more about HondaJet at www.hondajet.com .